Complete Game Notes as PDF    

THE GAME
#24 North Carolina A&T State Univ. "Aggies" vs. North Carolina Central Univ. "Eagles"

THE KICKOFF
Saturday, November 22, 2014 – Kickoff at 2:00 p.m. (Stadium gates open at 11:00 a.m.)

THE SITE
O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium (10,000 capacity/Mondoturf) - Durham, N.C.

THE RECORDS
N.C. Central (6-5 overall, 5-2 MEAC); #24 North Carolina A&T (9-2 overall, 6-1 MEAC)

MEDIA COVERAGE
Audio: NCCU Sports Network mobile app (iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android, Kindle Fire HD); "GameCentral" at NCCUEaglePride.com (audio internet stream). Broadcast starts at 1:30 p.m. (Chris Hooks, play-by-play; Joe Simmons, color analyst).

Video: "GameCentral" at NCCUEaglePride.com (pay-per-view video internet stream/$8.95). Broadcast starts at 1:30 p.m. (Chris Hooks, play-by-play; Joe Simmons, color analyst).

TICKETS
Tickets are still available, including in the new lawn seating area, by visiting NCCUEaglePride.com or calling the NCCU Ticket Office at 919-530-5170.

QUICK HITS
• NCCU hosts rival North Carolina A&T with the 2014 MEAC Championship on the line. If the Aggies win, A&T claims the outright conference title. If the Eagles win, NCCU earns a share of the league championship with NC A&T and any other teams with 6-2 MEAC records.
• NCCU celebrates "Senior Day" as 11 Eagles are playing in their final home game.
• NCCU and NC A&T are tied atop the MEAC with a +12 turnover margin, which ranks fifth in the NCAA Division I-FCS rankings.
• NCCU broke the school record for completions in a season with 211, topping the mark set by the 2011 Eagles of 210.
• NCCU senior defensive end Felix Small caused two fumbles at Norfolk State to increase his season total to seven forced fumbles, which makes him the national FCS leader. His seven forced fumbles is also a NCCU single-season record.
• NCCU senior running back Andre Clarke needs two rushing touchdowns to tie the NCCU career and single season records. He enters the game with 14 rushing touchdowns this season and 29 during his career.
• NCCU sophomore Malcolm Bell needs 153 passing yards to become the fifth quarterback in NCCU history to throw for 2,000 yards in a season.
• North Carolina A&T leads the series 49-31-5. The rivals have split the last eight match-ups, but the Aggies have won three in-a-row.
• With a 9-2 overall record, North Carolina A&T entered The Sports Network FCS Top-25 College Football Poll this week at No. 24. NCCU is 0-9 against nationally-ranked opponents since reclassifying to Division I-FCS in 2007.
• Former NCCU head football coach Rod Broadway is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Aggies. Broadway led the Eagles to back-to-back CIAA championships in 2005 and 2006.

THE SERIES
This will be the 86th meeting between the Eagles and Aggies, dating back to 1924 when NC A&T tied NCCU, 13-13, in Durham, N.C. The Aggies lead the series 49-31-5. NC A&T has won 18 of the last 23 meetings. NCCU has won four of the last eight contests, including a 27-16 victory on Sept. 25, 2010 in Durham, a 28-27 win on Oct. 4, 2008 in Charlotte, a 27-22 victory on Sept. 22, 2007 in Greensboro, and a 23-22 win on Sept. 5, 2005 in Raleigh. In the last match-up in Durham on Nov. 17, 2012, A&T outlasted the Eagles 22-16 in overtime. Last year, the Aggies shut out NCCU 28-0 in Greensboro on Nov. 23, 2013.

THE LAST MEETING
(Nov. 23, 2013 - NC A&T 28, NCCU 0) The North Carolina A&T defense stole the show, as the Aggies scored two defensive touchdowns, forced three turnovers and recorded their only shutout of the season by blanking the Eagles 28-0. A&T linebackers D'Vonte Grant and Brian Houston collected 13 tackles apiece. Houston returned a second-quarter interception 30 yards for a touchdown, while Grant recovered a fumble and raced 20 yards to the end zone in the fourth quarter. A&T running back Tarik Cohen, the MEAC's leading rusher, posted 125 of the team's 145 ground yards. NC A&T tallied 250 yards of total offense compared to NCCU's 148 total yards. The Eagles rushed for 113 yards, topped by Andre Clarke's 51 yards, against the No. 2 rushing defense in the NCAA Division I-FCS, but NCCU managed only 35 passing yards on 24 attempts.

THE LAST MEETING IN DURHAM (2012)
(Nov. 17, 2012 - NC A&T 22, NCCU 16 - Overtime) North Carolina A&T's all-time leading rusher Mike Mayhew closed out his college career with a 5-yard touchdown dash in overtime to defeat rival North Carolina Central University, 22-16, inside a sold out O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham, N.C. Mayhew amassed 116 of the Aggies' 162 ground yards, while NCCU's failure to consistently execute the snap from center resulted in a team total of negative-51 rushing yards for the Eagles, which proved to be a deciding factor in the outcome of the game.

LAST WEEK
(NCCU 19, Norfolk State 14) C.J. Moore blocked a punt and recovered the loose ball in the end zone with less than six minutes remaining for the game-winning touchdown, as NCCU rallied for a critical 19-14 road victory over Norfolk State. The Spartans had a chance to score in the final seconds, but on fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line, NCCU defensive back Theo Livingston intercepted a pass to start an Eagles' celebration.

(NC A&T 34, Savannah State 0) North Carolina A&T recorded its second straight shutout with a 34-0 road win at Savannah State. Led by D'Vonte Grant's 11 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, forced fumble and interception, the Aggies held the Tigers to minus-8 yards rushing.

THE COACHES
NCCU: Jerry Mack (Arkansas State, 2003) is in his first season as a college head coach. At age 34, he boasts 10 years of coaching experience, including stints with five NCAA Division I programs and two conference championship teams. A native of Memphis, Tenn., Mack has held positions as wide receivers coach at the University of South Alabama (2012-13) and the University of Memphis (2011), as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (2010), as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at the University of Central Arkansas (2008-09), as wide receivers and tight ends coach at Jackson State University (2006-07), and as an offensive graduate assistant at Delta State University (2004-05). Mack began his collegiate playing career at Jackson State before transferring after one season (1999) to Arkansas State University. He lettered three years at Arkansas State (2001-03) before earning his bachelor's degree in management information systems in 2003. Mack completed his master's degree in physical education from Delta State in 2006.

North Carolina A&T: In his fourth season as the head coach of the Aggies football program, Rod Broadway (North Carolina, 1977) is no stranger to NCCU. He was head coach at NCCU from 2003-06, guiding the Eagles to 33 victories with the best winning percentage in school history (.750), back-to-back CIAA championships in 2005 and 2006, and a 2006 Black College Football National Championship with an 11-0 regular-season record. Following NCCU, Broadway spent four seasons as the head coach at Grambling, where the Tigers posted a 35-12 record.

MEAC PICKS MOORE AS CO-SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NCCU senior C.J. Moore has been selected as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Co-Special Teams Player of the Week after recovering a punt that he blocked in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown at Norfolk State. The game-changing special teams play took place with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter with NCCU trailing the Spartans 14-13, resulting in a 19-14 victory. A native of Raleigh, N.C., Moore also amassed a team-best 11 tackles, including 2.0 hits for a loss, with a forced fumble, a pass break-up and a quarterback hurry to spark the Eagles defensively. On the season, the senior safety leads the Eagles with 86 total tackles, including 6.5 hits for a loss, five passes defended, three recovered fumbles and two forced fumbles.

EAGLES AGAINST NATIONALLY-RANKED OPPOSITION
Since the start of the transition to NCAA Division I-FCS in 2007, NCCU is 0-9 against nationally-ranked FCS opponents. The Eagles have been out-scored 369-118 (41.0-13.1 avg.) in those contests.

11/1/2014 - #20 Bethune-Cookman - 20-34 L
11/2/2013 - #13 Bethune-Cookman - 14-38 L
9/21/2013 - #4 Towson - 17-35 L
10/23/2010 - #14 Bethune-Cookman - 10-23 L
9/18/2010 - at #1 Appalachian State - 16-44 L
10/10/2009 - at #9 Appalachian State - 21-55 L
9/12/2009 - at #24 Liberty - 10-35 L
11/8/2008 - at #3 Cal Poly - 3-49 L
9/6/2008 - at #8 James Madison - 7-56 L

EAGLES' FOURTH QUARTER WOES
Against MEAC teams this season, NCCU has out-scored the opposition 165-85 in the first three quarters of play. However, the Eagles have been out-scored 68-58 in the fourth quarter.

FUMBLE! EAGLES RANK SECOND IN NATION IN FUMBLES RECOVERED
NCCU has recovered 17 fumbles this season, which ranks second in the NCAA Division I-FCS behind Albany-NY (18). NCCU senior defensive end Felix Small (Brooklyn, N.Y.) is the national FCS leader with seven forced fumbles, which is an NCCU single-season record. Linebacker Jordan Miles (Woodbridge, Va.) ranks second in the FCS with four recovered fumbles, and safety C.J. Moore (Raleigh, N.C.) is fourth in the FCS with three fumble recoveries.

CLARKE REACHES CAREER RUSHING STANDARD
Redshirt senior running back Andre Clarke (Mauldin, S.C.) collected 67 rushing yards at Morgan State (Oct. 18) to become the 12th Eagle in school history to rush for 1,500 career yards. He currently ranks 10th at NCCU with 1,784 career rushing yards. Clarke's 29 career rushing touchdowns ranks second at NCCU, trailing Gerald Fraylon (1981-84) with 31. Clarke's 14 rushing touchdowns this season is second on NCCU's single-season list behind Joe Simmons with 16 in 1993.

EAGLES TURN DEFENSE, SPECIAL TEAMS INTO POINTS
Since the start of the 2012 season, the Eagles have demonstrated a knack for finding the end zone when the offense is off the field. In the past 33 games, NCCU has scored 24 touchdowns on defense and special teams, including five this season, nine in 2013 and 10 in 2012. In that time, the Eagles have made trips to the end zone on nine punt returns, five kickoff returns, three blocked field goal returns, five interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

NCCU PICKED TO FINISH EIGHTH IN MEAC
The Eagles, under the direction of first-year head coach Jerry Mack, were predicted to finish eighth in the MEAC standings, according to a poll of the conference head coaches and sports information directors. Last season, NCCU tied for eighth place with Norfolk State after finishing with a 3-5 conference record and a 5-7 overall mark.

ABOUT NCCU FOOTBALL
North Carolina Central University is in its fourth season of full NCAA Division I (FCS) athletic competition as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Eagles have won 10 conference championships as members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1953, 1954, 1956, 1961, 1963, 1980, 2005, 2006) and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (1972, 1973), and have made three appearances in the NCAA playoffs (1988, 2005, 2006). The Eagles won back-to-back football conference championships and a Black College National Championship in their final two years in the Division II ranks (2005 and 2006) before starting the transition to Division I in 2007. During its storied gridiron tradition, NCCU has produced 132 all-conference selections, 65 all-Americans, 40 NFL draft picks, 10 conference championships and two Black College National Championships.